Storm Drain Superhero.: Convert

As I am writing this I am converting about sixty AVCHD into MPEG2 files to ensure a smooth playback mode when I edit these files down, am uploading an SD card full of raw footage into a shared server that will probably take overnight to complete, and have enough programs running between two computers to make toast in between the very busy hard drives. And this is just day two of my video editing. You weren't even here for the debacle that was the very first day of uploading. My physical and PC desktop alike were dumping grounds of music, still shots, storyboards, and scripts.

"Somewhat Remarkable Hip-Hop Conflicts of Water Quality" was a project that was brainstormed about two weeks into starting my time here at the Town of Farragut. With my supervisor Jason and myself both interested in completing compelling, hip, and at best, weird, education and outreach projects paired with a shared fandom of Nice Peter's "Epic Rap Battles of History," a project so strange and creativity based was bound to happen.

At the beginning of the year it all seemed so simple. Write lyrics, compose music for the rap, cast rappers, shoot the video, and paste all of the pieces together. I was so confident at the beginning of this that I was pretty sure that at the very least come time for me to leave in June that we would be on episode three of SWRHHCoWQ. Alas here I am on June 5th still in the middle of a somewhat intensive editing process of the very first (and last should the torch not be passed forward) episode of our rap battle shenanigans.

Looking back on the entire process I can't help but be proud of myself and my Hip-Hop cohorts for what we have put together so far. We designed the background stories and characters all on our own, wrote lyrics from scratch, learned how to use video/music/green screen equipment with very little prior experience, composed and edited down a unique musical track for the production, made superstar rappers out of two friends, created whimsical costumes from whatever we could find....and the list goes on.

A year that has been full of unicorns, sporks, and dinosaurs should end with one last big project about two rapping benthic macroinvertebrates don't you think? Even if it doesn't turn out quite as well as something Nice Peter might produce, I am proud of what I have been able to paste together with the resources I have been given. This project has been my baby right from the start so it will be a relief to show it to the stormwater world here in a few weeks when editing is complete.

But for now...back to file conversion.